Fabric for shoes



Jan. 24, 1939. E, ROBERTS I 2,144,689

FABRIC FOR SHOES Filed Jan. 27, 193% IN VENTOR.

ZZmrdizymnfioZerZa ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 24, 1939 FABRIC FOR SHOES Edward Ferguson Roberts, Rye, .N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to United States Rubber Company, New'York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 2'7, 1937, Serial No. 122,514

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements. in fabrics for shoeswhereby the throat area or any other portion of a shoe upper may be made elastic and at the same time provided with an 5 open mesh construction.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide elastic inserts or gores of a closely knitted or woven construction in various portions of a shoe upperto impart a degree of stretch thereto, but

such inserts or gores were not used to any'great extent. v

It has also been proposed heretofore to employ non-elastic open mesh fabrics in shoes,- but such open mesh fabric'swhen made sufficiently fine and thin foruse in light weight fine grade shoes such as ladies shoes made of fine thin leather, lack the necessary body and stiffness to prevent this open mesh fabric from sagging inthe shoe. It

has therefore been proposed heretofore to treat such fine open mesh fabric with a heavy sizing of starch or similar substance to impart the desired-stiffness thereto, but such a stiffening agent tends to dissolve when subjected to the perspiration of the foot or other moisture,'and also tends to crack the fibres of the sized fabric thus causing the fabric to split after a short use.

The fabric of the present invention is particularly well adapted for use in ladies shoes of the;

high step-in type since it permits the construction 3g of a step-in shoe having a high throat without requiring fastening means. The invention may however be used in other types of shoes where an open ventilated construction and elastic contractive force are desired.

resides in an open mesh elastic fabric designed for use in the throat area or other portion of a shoe upper and which is suillciently thin and light weight to conform with the thin light no weight material of the rest of the shoe upper, but which is capable of maintaining its shape in the shoe without sagging therein. This desired stifiness is imparted to the open mesh fabric in accordance with the present invention by securing to the outer face of such fabric spaced narrow strips of leather or other stifiening material so that-these strips extend transversely to the direction in which the fabric stretches and serve to stifien and reinforce the elastic fabric in an up w and down direction in the shoe.

The above and other features of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating one good practical form thereof.

The primary feature of the present invention In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ladys shoe of the high step-in type embodying therein the fabric of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front plan view of a piece of open mesh elastic fabric stiffened in accordance with the present invention for use as illustrated in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

The fabric of the present invention may be used in various types and styles of shoes whether the uppers thereof be formed of leather, fabric or'other suitable material, and while the elastic open mesh insert may be provided at various points in a shoe, it is particularly well adapted for use in the throat area where its stretching property will serve to relieve the confining pressure across the instep of the foot.

The shoe shown has the usual sole l0, heel H and upper 12 and theshoe as' will be noted from the drawing has a relatively high throat area for a step-in shoe which employs no form of fastening means. This high throat in a step-in shoe is made possible through the construction of the present invention which makes the throat area sufliciently elastic to stretch to accommodate the foot as the shoe is slipped on or removed from the foot.

In'the particular construction shown, the shoe is provided with the two inserts l3 disposed in the throat area and connected by a vertical seam that is concealed by the upwardly extending central strip l4, and is also provided with the two side inserts i5 which are connected to the edges of the inserts l3 by seams that are concealed by the upwardly extending strips IS. The elastic structure formed of the connected inserts I3 and I5 is secured in place in the shoe by sewing the same to the shoe upper 12 along the sides and lower edge of this elastic structure.

Each of the inserts Hand 65 may be constructed of the open mesh elastic fabric of the present invention shown in Fig. 2. Such fabric may have either a warp knit or a lace construction, the latter being illustrated in the drawing.

This fabric in order to have the desired amount of elasticity imparted thereto is provided with the elastic yarns ll which extend warpwise of the lace fabric. In the construction illustrated, the lace'fabric is formed withthe transversely extending bar portions i8, whichbar portions are connected at spaced intervals with the vertically extending portions It. This construction serves to provide the relatively large ventilating openings 20 and each bar portion [8 is shown as having four elastic yarns l1 secured therein. Each of these elastic yarns may consist of a rubber core having one or more textile covers helically wound thereupon in a well known manner, and these elastic yarns of necessity are sufficiently small to permit their proper manipulation in the lace forming machine as the fabric is being constructed. They also should exert a sufficiently strong contractive force in the fabric to cause the shoe to maintain its shape throughout its use.

It is found that if the elastic open mesh fabric just described is constructed so that it is sufficiently thin and fine in character to be in conformity with the thin material of which the shoe upper is constructed, it will not possess suflicient inherent body or stiffness to prevent it from sagging in the shoe. This difliculty is overcome in accordance with the present invention by securing to the elastic open mesh fabric in a direction transversely to the stretch of the fabric, the spaced stiffening and reinforcing'strips 2|. These reinforcing strips may be formed of the same leather as is used in constructing the rest of the shoe upper or may be formed of such other material as desired having the required stiffening properties.

In the construction shown, a stiffening strip 2| is placed over every other row of connecting portions I! as will be apparent from the drawing and is firmly secured to the underlying elastic fabric by the rows of stitching 22. The lower end of each strip 2| as well as the lower edge portion of the elastic fabric is concealed in the shoe by securing the same at the underside of the shoe upper by a row of stitches 23.

In employing the present fabric in a shoe as illustrated in Fig. 1, it is usually desirable to provide a stronger elastic contractive force at the upper edge of the shoe throughout the area in which the elastic insert is employed and this is accomplished in the construction shown by folding the upper edge of the elastic fabric over to give it a smooth finished edge and by securing to the inner face of this fabric along its upper edge a strip of elastic webbing 24. This stronger elastic force may be secured however by simply increasing the number of elastic yarns employed in the open mesh fabric adjacent its upper edge.

The reinforcing and stiffening strips 2| not only impart sufficient stiffness to the underlying elastic fabric to prevent it from sagging in the shoe, but serve also to prevent this elastic fabric from being unduly stretched or pulled out of shape in an upright direction during the operation of pulling the upper over its last or when the shoe is being worn. These vertical strips serve also to ornament the shoe and improve its appearance.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An elastic fabric for use in shoe uppers, comprising an open mesh lace fabric formed with spaced transversely extending bar portions connected by rows of vertically extending portions, each of said bar portions having two or more elastic yarns embodied therein to render the fabric elastic in one direction and having narrow leather strips secured to one face of said fabric along said rows so that the strips lie in spaced relation to each other and extend transversely to the direction of stretch of the fabric to thereby stiffen and strengthen the fabric in the direction of said strips to prevent the fabric from sagging in use.

2. An elastic fabric for use in shoe uppers comprising an open mesh fabric formed of interconnected textile threads arranged to provide transversely extending bar portions connected by rows of vertically extending portions, each of said bar portions having two or more elastic yarns em bodied in said fabric to render the fabric elastic in'one direction and having narrow leather strips secured to one face of said fabric along said rows so that the strips lie in spaced relation to each other and extend transversely to the direction of stretch of the fabric to thereby stiffen and strengthen the fabric in the direction of said strips to prevent the fabric from sagging in use.

3. An elastic fabric for use in shoe uppers, comprising an open mesh fabric formed of interconnected textile threads arranged to provide transversely extending bar portions connected by rows of vertically extending portions, each of said bar portions having two or more elastic yarns associated therewith to render the fabric elastic in one direction and having narrow stiffening strips sewed to the fabric along 'said rows so that the strips lie in spaced relation to each other and extend transversely to the direction of stretch of the fabric and adapted to stiffen and strengthen the fabric in the direction of said strip to prevent the fabric from sagging in use.

EDWARD FERGUSON ROBERTS. 

